A Favorite Hearty Salad, The Beauty of Stone-Milled Flour, Oatmeal Pancakes & More Recipes to Make This Week


Friends, hello!

A week ago, I shared this sandwich bread recipe, and the most frequently asked question I've received since is: Could I make the loaf using whole wheat flour?

I respond as I always do: Yes, you can, but keep in mind two things: 1.) the more whole wheat flour you use, the less lofty your loaf will be. 2.) Depending on the flour you are using, your bread might not necessarily be more nutritious.

Why? It has to do with the milling. Most commercial flour on the market is made from wheat that has been roller milled, meaning a roller mill has separated the wheat kernel into three parts: the endosperm, germ, and bran. White flour is made from the endosperm.

Commercial whole wheat flour is made from a mix of the endosperm, germ, and the bran, but producing it entails separating the kernel into its three parts first, then adding the germ and the bran back in various proportions. Research shows that as soon as the wheat kernel is separated into its various parts, much of the nutritional value is lost.

If you’re looking to make a more nutritious bread, which is typically the goal when using whole wheat flour, you may want to pick up some stone-milled flour. Stone milling keeps the endosperm, bran, and germ together, preserving in the process more of the bran and the germ, which is where many of the nutrients, antioxidants, oils, and flavors are stored.

Using small amounts of freshly milled flours in your bread recipes will provide so much more by way of flavor and aroma than commercial whole wheat flour without compromising the bread's texture.

I love Cairnspring Mills flours but there are many wonderful mills out there — a few others I love include Anson Mills, Community Grains, and Red Tail Grains.

I'm hoping to post a recipe for a 100% whole wheat sandwich bread sometime soon-ish, but in the meantime, you could try simply swapping in 1 cup (128 grams) of the bread flour with an equal amount of stone-milled flour; then adjusting with more or less stone-milled flour the next time around depending on how you like the result.

Friends, I hope all is well. This week, for a day at least, the temperature reached 72ºF and the sun was shining and everyone was in the BEST mood. It was so nice. It made me crave a big, classic chopped salad, like the above, which I made immediately, and which we all loved.

Have a great weekend ☀️☀️☀️

PS: Here are three more springy salads to make this week:

Spring Fattoush Salad

Shaved Fennel & Avocado Salad

Charred Broccoli Chopped Salad with Addictive Cashew Vinaigrette


Review of the Week

Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Made as instructed using diced apples. Out of this world delicious! I’m going to try next time making it with finely grated carrots and maybe substitute applesauce for the egg and some soaked and drained raisins. I love steel cut oats but was getting tired of the same old, same old. This has made me love my steel cut oats breakfast again! "

— Diane

PS: With oats in mind, here are 5 other oaty favorites:

Banana-Oat Pancakes (High-protein, gluten-free)

Homemade Muesli

Large Clump Granola

Overnight Chia Oats

Oatmeal Muffins:

PPS: ☘️☘️ Super Simple Irish Soda Bread ☘️☘️


In Case You Missed It:

Simple Soft Sandwich Bread

Miraculously Delicious Turkey Burgers

Simple Baked Pasta

How to Save Recipes:


No-Cook Golden Tomato Sauce

In Friday's pizza newsletter, I shared a recipe for a simple no-cook tomato sauce made from canned yellow tomatoes, which are delicious if a little pricey. Get the recipe here:


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PS: All previous editions of this newsletter can be found here.

Hi. I'm Ali.

Bread enthusiast. Vegetable lover. Omnivore. If the kitchen is your happy place, you're in good company. Let's hang.

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